Method of cooking foods

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for cooking corn is disclosed whereby corn particles are immersed in water in a cooking vessel to form a mass of corn particles, and the water is circulated throughout said mass. The temperature of the mass is raised and the corn particles agitated by directing steam, from a steam chamber, into said mass by deflecting said steam radially outwardly through perforated side walls in the steam chamber. The steam flow is then stopped whereafter the water circulation is stopped and cooked particles of corn are obtained.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 846,183 filed Oct. 27,1977, now abandoned, which is a division of Ser. No. 619,837, filed Oct.6, 1975, now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a method for cooking a foodproduct and more particularly, to a method for cooking corn in kernelform in large quantities on a commercial basis.

DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART

Various types of apparatus have been suggested for the commercialcooking of food products such as corn and the like. Typically, theseapparatus include large cooking vessels for containing the food productand the water in which it is immersed, mechanical agitators for stirringor agitating the product during cooking, and external heating means forheating the water to an elevated temperature. Frequently the cookingvessels comprise elongated tanks open at their tops and semicircular incross section. These vessels are often mounted on rollers so that theycan be positioned over gas burners or the like for heating the water.After the cooking operation, the vessels are moved to a transfer areawhere the cooked food product is transferred to other vessels containingwater. Within these vessels the product is allowed to steep for severalhours. The cooked product is then separated from the water for furtherprocessing.

A particular problem inherent in the design of commercial cookingapparatus is ensuring the uniformity of cooking of the discreteparticles of the food particles which make up the mass being cooked.Localized "hot spots" within the apparatus will cause scorching orburning of the product resulting in an unacceptable end product.Similarly, if the discrete particles of the product are permitted tostick together or to stick to the walls of the container, non-uniformityof cooking will result. Consequently, various types of agitationmechanisms have been suggested to ensure uniform cooking and to preventthe particles of the product from sticking together. Frequently,however, such mechanisms are inefficient, costly, and difficult tomaintain.

As will become apparent from the description which follows, the presentinvention provides a new and novel approach to large-scale food productpreparation which totally eliminates the need for mechanical agitation.Additionally, because of the unique design of the cooking apparatus,uniformity of temperature is ensured throughout the cooking vessel sothat each particle of the product is evenly cooked.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus for cooking a food product such as corn in which largequantities of the food product can be cooked automatically at a uniform,precisely controlled temperature.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method and apparatusof the aforementioned character in which, during cooking, each discreteparticle of the food product is completely surrounded by heated water sothat the food particles will not stick together and each particle willbe uniformly cooked.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide asimple, highly reliable and inexpensive method and apparatus for cookinglarge quantities of corn in the form of discrete kernels which areimmersed in water to form a homogeneous mass and in which live steam isused to controllably and uniformly heat the mass.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method and apparatusas described in the preceding paragraph in which the individual kernelsof corn are gently agitated during cooking by continuously circulatingthe heated water throughout the homogeneous mass.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a method andapparatus of the class described in which, subsequent to the cookingstep, the food product can be steeped in the cooking vessel for thedesired length of time without transferring it to another container.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method and apparatusas described in the previous paragraph in which, following cooking andsteeping, the food product can expeditiously be removed from theapparatus and separated from the water for further processing.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a unique foodcooking apparatus which embodies a minimum number of moving parts, ishighly reliable, can be inexpensively produced, can readily beinstalled, and can easily be used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the cooking apparatus of thepresent invention partly broken away to show internal construction;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the steam injector means of theinvention shown partly in section; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the control system of theinvention for controlling circulation of water within the apparatus andfor regulating the flow of steam to the steam injector means.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE FORM OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, the cookingapparatus of the present invention comprises a vessel 12 for containinga homogeneous mass made up of the food product to be cooked, generallydesignated by the numeral 14, immersed in water or a mixture of waterand appropriate additives to facilitate the cooking operations. Forexample, when the product to be cooked is corn in kernel form, it hasbeen found desirable to add small amounts of lime to the water to breakthe outer husk of the kernels of corn so as to more uniformly cook theinterior of the kernels. When cooking other types of food products,other additives, such as salt, soda, or the like, may serve to enhancethe cooking operation. The cooking vessel in this embodiment of theinvention comprises a generally cylindrically shaped upper portion 16having a top wall 18 provided with a centrally disposed inlet means 20for receiving a water mixture from a pump or other source andintroducing it interiorly of the vessel. Interconnected with upperportion 16 is a frustoconically shaped lower portion 22 having an outletport 24 at the lower extremity thereof for removing the food productfrom the vessel. In practice, the top and bottom portions of the vesselmay be separately constructed of a suitable material such as sheet metaland are joined together by any suitable means such as by welding. Inletmeans 20 is interconnected by a conduit such as piping 26 with theoutlet of a pump means designated by the numeral 28. As willsubsequently be discussed, pump means 28 circulates the liquid withinthe apparatus and more particularly, throughout the homogeneous masscomprising the food product to be cooked, which is immersed in the watermixture. Pump means 28 is of a conventional design, including acentrifugal pump 30 driven by an electric motor 32.

Provided interiorly of vessel 12 is a deflector means identifiedgenerally by the numeral 34. In the form of the invention shown in thedrawings, deflector means 34 comprises a frustoconically shaped member36 located adjacent water inlet means 20. As best seen in FIG. 1, member36 is positioned within the vessel so that water entering the vesselwill impinge upon the apex thereof and will be uniformly deflectedradially outwardly within the vessel. As will later become apparent,deflection of the water in this manner contributes to the uniformheating of the homogeneous mass.

Disposed within the lower portion of vessel 12 and intermediate of thehomogeneous mass is a steam injector means 38 for injecting live steaminto the vessel. The steam injector means performs the importantfunction of uniformly and controllably heating the product being cooked.Referring to FIG. 2, the steam injector means of this form of theinvention can be seen to comprise a generally cylindrically shaped outerhousing 40 having side walls 42, a perforated top wall 44, and aperforated bottom wall 46. Also forming a part of the steam injectormeans is a steam chamber 48 mounted within housing 40. Steam chamber 48has a top wall 52, a bottom wall 54, side walls 56, and a steam inlet 57formed in top wall 52. Side walls 56 are provided with a plurality ofsteam outlet passages 58 arranged to eject steam outwardly in adirection toward side walls 42 of housing 40. Also forming an importantpart of the steam injector means is a steam deflector means mountedwithin chamber 48 adjacent to steam inlet 50 for deflecting the steamentering the chamber radially outwardly toward passageways 58. In thepresent form of the invention, this deflector means comprises afrustoconically shaped member 59 mounted in the manner illustrated inFIG. 2. With this construction, the steam entering chamber 48 willstrike the apex of the member and will be uniformly deflected radiallyoutwardly toward side walls 56. Means in the form of cylindrical cover53 adjustably carried by threaded rods 55 is provided for removablycovering a portion of the outlet passageways 58 to control the flow pathof steam into housing 40. Referring also to FIG. 2, it can be seen thatwall 54 of the steam chamber is provided with an outlet passageway 60which is interconnected with the inlet side of pump 30 by means of aconduit 62.

Cooperatively associated with the steam injector means 38 are sensor andcontrol means for sensing the temperature of the homogeneous mass andstopping the flow of steam into the steam chamber when a predeterminedtemperature is reached. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the sensor means canbe seen to comprise a thermocouple element 64 carried by portion 22 oftank 12 and extending into the homogeneous mass contained within thevessel. As illustrated in FIG. 3, thermocouple element 64 is operativelyassociated with a temperature control element 66 which, in turn, isinterconnected with a solenoid 68. Operatively associated with solenoid68 is a fluid actuated valve 70 which is adapted to control the flow ofsteam from an exterior source of steam (as indicated by the arrows atthe center right and lower left of FIGS. 1 and 3 respectively) intovessel 12 and through conduit 71 to steam injector means 38. Valve 70 isappropriately interconnected by conduit 72 with a source of fluid underpressure, such as air. As shown in FIG. 3, solenoid 68 is locatedintermediate the source of fluid and valve 70 and controls the flow offluid through conduit 72. Thermocouple 64, as well as temperaturecontrol 66, solenoid 68, and valve 70, are all of standard design andare commercially available. In operation, when thermocouple 64 sensesthat the desired temperature of the homogeneous mass has been reached,temperature control 66 opens the circuit to solenoid 68, de-energizingit, causing valve 70 to be activated to stop the flow of steam towardsteam injector means 38. As a safety measure, a thermocouple 73 (FIG. 1)is placed in a tee located in conduit 62. As illustrated in FIG. 3, thisthermocouple is operatively interconnected within the control circuit sothat should the temperature of the water in the outlet conduit 62 exceedsafe limits, solenoid 68 will be de-energized, closing valve 70 andstopping the flow of steam to the vessel. Although the interconnectionof these various elements, to accomplish the purpose stated, isillustrated only in schematic form in the drawings, in practice thephysical connection of the elements can readily be accomplished by oneskilled in the art.

OPERATION

In practicing the method of the present invention, vessel 12 is firstpartially filled with water to which suitable additives such as lime hasbeen introduced. The product to be cooked, as for example corn in kernelform, is then introduced into vessel 12 through openings in the top ofthe vessel generally designated as 18a (FIG. 1). Pivotally mounted doors19 adapted to close openings 18a are then lowered into their closedposition. Cooking operations are begun by setting timer 74 (FIG. 3) tothe desired time interval and closing switch 76. Closing of switch 76energizes magnetic starter 78 which, in turn, energizes pump motor 32,causing circulation of the water mixture throughout the apparatus in amanner presently to be described. Closing of switch 76 also results incommencement of the flow of live steam from the external steam generatorinto steam injector means 38 of the apparatus.

As best seen in FIG. 1, during the cooking operation housing 40 is atall times filled with liquid which enters the housing through theperforated top and bottom walls thereof. The apertures in the top andbottom walls of housing 40, however, are of such a size as to precludeadmission of the particles of the food product being cooked into theinterior of housing 40. Turning to FIG. 2, it will be observed that whenlive steam is flowing into the steam injector means through inlet 57, itwill impinge upon deflector member 59 and will be diverted uniformlyoutwardly through passageways 58 into the liquid located interiorly ofhousing 40. This flow pattern of live steam functions to efficiently anduniformly heat the liquid contained within housing 40.

As long as pump 30 is operating, the heated liquid is continuously beingdrawn from housing 40 into the steam chamber 48 through its perforatedside walls toward conduit 62. Due to the suction of the pump, the heatedliquid will then flow through conduit 62 into pump 30 and will be forcedupwardly through conduit 26 to the top of vessel 12 where it isreintroduced into the vessel through inlet 20. As previously mentioned,the liquid entering the vessel will impinge upon deflector member 36 andwill be deflected radially outwardly into the tank. The heated liquidwill then flow through the product being cooked, resulting in uniformheating of each particle of the food product. When the liquid once morereaches housing 40, it will again be heated by the live steam flowingthrough injector means 38. This continuous circulation of the heatedwater through the homogeneous mass causes the temperature thereof torise very uniformly, and also causes a gentle agitation of the discreteparticles of the food product. It is this gentle agitation whichprevents the particles of the product from sticking together or fromsticking to the side walls of the vessel.

Introduction of live steam into the steam injector means is continueduntil the temperature of the homogeneous mass is raised to the desiredtemperature. When this temperature is reached, thermocouple 64, incooperation with temperature control 66, will de-energize solenoid 68causing valve 70 to close precluding further flow of steam into theapparatus. The liquid in the vessel, however, will continue to becirculated by pump 30 until timer 74 reaches the end of the pre-setinterval. At this time, the circuit to the magnetic starter will beopened, de-energizing pump motor 32.

It is to be appreciated that the temperature to which the homogeneousmass is raised and the time interval during which the liquid iscirculated varies, depending upon the type of product being cooked. Byway of example, for cooking corn in kernel form, it has been determinedthat the temperature to which the homogeneous mass should be raised isbetween approximately 170° F. and approximately 180° F. and the timeinterval in which the water is circulated is on the order of two hoursafter the flow of steam to the vessel has been stopped. Adherence tothese operating parameters has been found to produce a superior endproduct ideally suited for subsequent milling or grinding operations.After circulation of the liquid has ceased, if desired the product maybe left in the cooking vessel to steep. When the product to be cooked iscorn, the optimum steeping time has been determined to be on the orderof ten hours. Following the steeping step, outlet 24 is opened byopening valve 24a thereby permitting removal of the cooked food product.Depending upon the product being prepared, removal through outlet 24 maybe by force of gravity, or the material may be removed by any suitablepumping means and transferred to storage containers or to auxiliaryapparatus for further processing. To facilitate removal of the foodproduct through outlet 24, air under pressure may be introduced into thelower portion of vessel 12 by means of an air inlet port 80 (FIG. 1).This introduction of air under pressure will loosen the food product,permitting it to more easily pass through outlet port 24.

Having now described the invention in detail in accordance with therequirements of the patent statutes, those skilled in this art will haveno difficulty in making changes and modifications in the individualparts or their relative assembly in order to meet specific requirementsor conditions. Such changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention, as set forth inthe following claims.

I claim:
 1. A method of cooking discrete particles of corn comprisingthe steps of:(a) providing a cooking vessel having an upper, lower andintermediate region; (b) immersing the corn particles to be cooked inwater contained in said vessel to form a homogeneous mass in which eachcorn particle is surrounded by water; (c) introducing water at the upperregion of said cooking vessel and deflecting said water radiallyoutwardly therewithin, circulating the water throughout the homogeneousmass and removing water from the lower region of said cooking vessel;(d) providing within the intermediate region of said cooking vessel asteam chamber having a steam inlet and perforated side walls, said sidewalls being adapted to maintain the corn particles in a spacedrelationship with said steam inlet; (e) introducing live steam into saidsteam chamber through said steam inlet and directing said steam into thehomogeneous mass by deflecting said steam radially outwardly throughsaid perforated side walls of said steam chamber to uniformly raise thetemperature of said homogeneous mass and gently agitate the particles ofcorn; (f) stopping the flow of live steam into the homogeneous mass whenthe temperature of the water within said cooking vessel is raised tobetween approximately 170° F. and approximately 180° F.; (g) stoppingthe circulation of water; and then (h) separating the particles of cornfrom the water and removing said particles from the vessel proximate thelower region thereof.
 2. The method as defined in claim 1 in which thewater is circulated for on the order of two hours after the flow ofsteam is stopped.
 3. A method of cooking discrete particles of corncomprising the steps of:(a) providing a cooking vessel having an upper,lower and intermediate region; (b) immersing the corn particles to becooked in water contained in said vessel to form a homogeneous mass inwhich each corn particle is surrounded by water; (c) introducing waterat the upper region of said cooking vessel and deflecting said waterradially outwardly therewithin; (d) circulating the water throughout thevessel by continuously removing it from the lower region of said cookingvessel and reintroducing it at the upper region thereof; (e) providingwithin the intermediate region of said cooking vessel a steam chamberhaving a steam inlet and perforated side walls, said side walls beingadapted to maintain the corn particles in a spaced relationship withsaid steam inlet; (f) introducing live steam into said steam chamberthrough said steam inlet and directing said steam into the homogeneousmass by deflecting said steam radially outwardly through said perforatedside walls of said steam chamber to uniformly raise the temperature ofsaid homogeneous mass and gently agitate the corn particles; (g)stopping the flow of live steam into the homogeneous mass when thetemperature of the water within said cooking vessel is raised to betweenapproximately 170° F. and approximately 180° F.; (h) after approximatelytwo hours stopping the circulation of water; and then (i) separating thecorn particles from the water and removing said particles from thevessel proximate the lower region thereof.